Acetonitrile → Diethyl 4-cyano-4-(6-methoxypyridin-3-yl)heptanedioate

Participants

Reaction Steps

2.775 g (18.73 mmol) of (6-methoxypyridin-3-yl)acetonitrile (WO2004/111031) are introduced into 125 ml of anhydrous acetonitrile in a 250 ml round-bottomed flask under an argon atmosphere. 0.87 ml (1.87 mmol) of Triton B (40% in methanol) is added, the reaction mixture is brought to reflux and 20.40 ml (187.30 mmol) of ethyl acrylate are added dropwise. The reaction medium is subsequently stirred at reflux for 48 hours, cooled to ambient temperature and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue thus obtained is poured into a saturated aqueous ammonium chloride solution and extracted twice with dichloromethane. The organic phases are combined, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue obtained is purified by chromatography on a column of silica gel, elution being carried out with a mixture of chloroform, methanol and aqueous ammonia in the proportions 90/10/1.

Provenance & Evidence